It is especially troublesome because the new study of nearly 700 young patients shows the effective treatment for adults, the drug metformin, has a high failure rate for ages 10 to 17.

“Fifty percent of the kids required additional therapy when they were treated with metformin only,” Zeitler said.

The national study, chaired by Zeitler, found the need for two drugs, metformin and Avandia. But Avandia has been linked to heart disease and strokes.

While doctors look for treatments, they warn young people with Type 2 diabetes are at higher risk for complications in their 20s and 30s.

“Heart disease, kidney disease, amputations,” Zeitler said.

Exercise and a healthier diet are key in preventing Type 2 diabetes, but habits can be tough to alter. In fact, the study found it was incredibly difficult to affect lifestyle changes in the teens even with one-on-one intervention.

“I fear sometimes that we make light of all the little fat kids we have in our society, but I think the message here is that there really are very substantial consequences to that obesity,” Zeitler said.

The take away from the study is that it’s better to avoid diabetes altogether by living a healthy lifestyle then to have to treat it.